Doris Cruce

Celebration of Life

Doris Studstill Cruce

I have always known her simply as D

She has left quite the legacy behind.

3 children

7 grandchildren

18 great grandchildren

and 1 great great grandchild

She will be missed

Scripture tells us in Ecclesiastes that there is a time and a season for everything

One of those seasons and times that the Bible talks about is a time for mourning and a time for weeping

Today is a time for those things

We mourn the loss of a beautiful women

One that was truly beautiful both inside and out

She was an amazing wife, mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother, great great grandmother, friend and many other things

She was strong and independent

Yet caring and considerate

She was someone you always wanted on your side, and if she was, you knew she would do anything for you

She was passionate and kind

gentle and loving

As a great grandmother to my 3 girls, she was an incredible role model

And so today we mourn the loss of her touch on this earth

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 NIV

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

So yes, we do mourn. But we do not more as those with no hope.

In our mourning, we remember. We remember that because Jesus died and rose again we can trust in the fact that on December 7th of 2021 D became face to face with her Savior and He uttered the coveted words “well done thy good and faithful servant.”

And with that we have hope in our mourning that we will see D again

When I think about D one thing that stands out to me is her ability to pay attention to the detail

She was so detail oriented

You can’t be a bookkeeper for as long as she was without being someone who notices the details.

She was always done up, always had her nails done, always beautiful! She was the epitome of a southern bell

If you walked into her home you noticed her attention to detail

Everything had a place and everything was in it’s place

I remember the first Thanksgiving I ever spent with the Cruce’s.

We had a feast! The spread was incredible!

Now I’m not a big sweets guy and so I do have desserts all that often

But I remember making my plate that day and coming across a sweet potato casserole

And this thing looked delicious

And so I decided that it was going to be my dessert

I ate my main course and meal and moved onto this sweet potato casserole

I took one bite and just remember thinking that in that moment I wasn't sure I had tasted anything better.

So I immediately spoke up and asked “who made this?” Everyone turned to me and said “D. D made it.”

I looked down and D was just smiling.

The thing about this sweet potato casserole was that not only was it one of the best things I had ever put in my mouth it also looked perfect

It was that light orange on the bottom with the dark crust on top with almonds that I’m pretty sure were perfectly spaced apart

It was perfect down to the last detail!

But that’s just who D was.

If she was going to do something, she was going to do it right, down to every detail

It’s something I always have and always will admire about her

When she loved her people, she loved them hard. Down to every detail!

She was in a constant pursuit of learning how to love each and every one of the best way she could

The attention to detail may have been the expression but it was love that motivated D

Love was what drove her to be who she was

When I spoke with her several weeks ago about her service she had a few general requests but she had one very specific one

She wanted 1 Corinthians 13 read

And I think this chapter sums D up pretty well!

1 Corinthians 13 NIV

1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

While D was with us she only saw a reflection, only a part

Today, D sees and knows fully

And today D is fully known and is face to face with her Savior

And I know that what she would want more than anything else today, is for us to love like Corinthians tells us to

Love one another

and love Jesus